So it was only six last night after all. Briefly. Then up to 10 and back down to six and every stop in between. Makes it hard to work out what bedding best suits. Especially when the cat refuses to cooperate over changes, and the dog leaps to his feet in anticipation of going out when you throw off some covers. But we got through and today was a lovely sunny day. Until lunchtime when the clouds closed in (but still no rain) and the day became grey and dank once more. Dank is an irritating phenomenon as one feels cold, when the temp is quite moderate (like right now it is 10 degrees) but the amount of moisture in the air makes it feel a heck of a lot chillier than that... SO the fire was lit shortly after my friend arrived for lunch and we at in the loungeroom. A lovely visit with conversations that ranged from the new pastor, to goings on at the school, to catching up on family gossips (her family, not mine) and eating ourselves to overflowing on hot chicken coleslaw and teacake (though not all at once). I made the mistake of joining her for coffee (I have not had coffee for months now) and so am a bit jittery right now ... How do we become addicted to the stuff do you think? She brought me a ream of coloured paper so tomorrow I can start the marathon task of printing all out-going emails to the letting agents on that, and all incoming emails on white to be filed into a folder in chronological order for ease of reference while compiling my complaint. Thank heaven for the cheap printer ink I bought a few months back as i suspect most will be gone by the time i am done. Still it will be worth it, and will provide a framework for keeping records on the place in hard copy rather than simply on the hotmail account, so future exchanges can reference back more readily to previous instructions. The oxtail stew was smelling might fine by the time i turned off the hotplate last night, but I added some thyme and salt today and am presently re-heating it with the new potato wedges on top to cook through as it goes through the final cooking process. Should be very tasty what with the half a cup of port in the mix ...